BUSINESS IS BOOMING IN VAUGHAN and the City is emerging as the top
choice for new and innovative businesses. In fact, the 2016 ranking of Canada’s Best
Places for Business by Canadian Business and PROFIT has Vaughan in eighth place
nationally and second in Ontario. This is a reflection of the dedication of the City
to support its business community and build a world-class city.
What is the secret to Vaughan’s powerful position? Diversity! Much like the diversity you
find in its residents, the essence of Vaughan’s
business strength is its range across sectors. The
manufacturing sector posted the most growth between 2014 and 2015, adding nearly 1,360 jobs.
Service-oriented jobs – professional services, arts
and entertainment and tourism – accounted for
64 per cent of all employment in the City while
the remaining 36 per cent of jobs fall within the
goods producing industries. Small firms make
up the largest share of businesses in Vaughan,
accounting for 80.9 per cent of total businesses
in 2015. Vaughan’s employment growth
outpaced national, provincial and regional
labour force employment growth between
mid-year 2014 and mid-year 2015, posting
a gain of 3.5 per cent – that’s more than
6,770 jobs.
With more than 11,200 businesses, growing by
3.4 per cent annually, you have an economic base
that is positioned to withstand the normal shifts
and dips that most economies face. What allows
for this wide-ranging economic base to thrive is
the ever-growing workforce equipped and ready
to do their part. There are more than 200,000
employees in Vaughan and this number is growing every year – more than twice the rate of the
Greater Toronto Area (GTA) as a whole. The
entrepreneurial spirit thrives in the residents of
Vaughan and this makes for an ideal balance between ingenuity and work ethic – truly the perfect
recipe for continued economic vitality.
Diversity, of course, is only one piece to this
puzzle. There is no doubt the business horizon
remains as bright as it does in Vaughan because
the City has taken some important proactive steps
that both harness this powerful entrepreneurial
spirit and stimulate its growth by providing the
necessary tools, skill s and raw materials.
It all begins with land and this is where Vaughan really sets itself apart. The Vaughan Enterprise Zone
(VEZ) encompasses an area of more than 2,767
acres and represents the largest supply of vacant
employment lands in the GTA. Located in the western part of the City, the area has the potential for
more than 48-million-square-feet of industrial space
and at full build out, would represent an additional
46,000 new jobs for the City. This space is strategically positioned and primed to become the canvas
of Vaughan’s future economic growth.
Through the Enterprise Zone and with the land
in hand, the attention shifts to developing the
people who will create the need and ultimately the
workforce to push this expansion forward. This is
where the Vaughan Business Enterprise Centre
(VBEC) comes in. For the past 15 years, VBEC
has provided entrepreneurs and business people
with information, resources, training and handson assistance. VBEC also runs the highly successful Starter Company which develops young entrepreneurs. This year there were 30 young business
owners in the program who all started and operated a full-time business over the summer.
Vaughan is investment-ready and focused on
innovation. Partnerships between government,
academia and industry are common and have led
the Vaughan International Commercialization
Centre (VICC) to facilitate business innovation,
increase export activity, promote foreign investment and create jobs.
A great example of the VICC at work is
Vaughan’s own Drone Delivery Canada which
joined the program in April of this year. Tony
Di Benedetto, CEO of DDC, explains that
drone delivery is a “disruptive technology” that
will change the way we do business especially in
remote areas of our country. According to Mr.
Di Benedetto, drone delivery is not only efficient
and environmentally friendly, but will bring relief
to regions in dire need of “just in time” materials
and supplies – in some cases, making a difference
between life and death. Drones have the capacity
and technology to deliver documents, supplies and
essential aids to remote areas in a timely fashion
which would otherwise have to wait for airplane
or ground deliveries. How did the VICC help Mr.
Di Benedetto bring his company to the next level?
“VICC opened local and municipal doors for
us. They expedited discussions with key business
partners and of course this is essential to getting
our product to market as quickly and as powerfully as possible.” Businesses thrive when they are
properly supported and it’s clear that the City of
Vaughan supports its people – they lead by empowering leaders to do more.
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People are noticing what the City has to offer
and that bodes well for the future. With a new
downtown, the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre,
drawing office and commercial enterprises,
the business horizon looks very promising
and the City’s future, very bright.
For more information about doing business in Vaughan, please visit vaughan.ca/business.
Source: York Region Planning and Economic Development Branch and Statistics Canada’s Labour
Force Survey, three-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality, ending in August 2015.
2016 \ Celebrate Vaughan
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